Mixtapes

Weekly Mixtape for April 14th, 2018

The Week In Review video will be back next week; luckily, this week’s video would have been short due to a lack of major events this week. Had there been a video, these would have been the topics:

1. Friday evening the U.S., U.K., and France launched a targeted military attack in Syria as a response to the use of chemical weapons on Syrian citizens. We’ll see how this plays out in the markets and responses out of Syria.

2. Despite ending down on Friday, the U.S. markets finished positive for the week. We’re heading into earnings season, with a few of the larger banks having already reported, and there are positive expectations for the numbers that will be reported. Some believe the positive earnings will kick the market back into growth, where others fear any surprises could lead the markets back to test the year’s lows. We’ll have to wait and see…

3. Mark Zuckerberg testified in front of Congress for two days regarding Facebook’s privacy policies, security, and Cambridge Analytica scandal. I personally hate these events because it ends up being grandstanding from Congress and no real answers from the individual testifying.

I apologize for no video this week; a combination of a failed SD card in the camera and a busy Saturday schedule prevented a video from being recorded. I look forward to being back in front of you next week!

Week In Review Articles:

New York Times: Pentagon Says Syria Strike Hit Heart Of Chemical Weapons Program

Wall Street Journal: Mark Zuckerberg’s Testimony Before Congress: The Highlights

Mixtape:

Josh Brown’s Talk At Google Josh Brown gets a lot of love on this blog for many reasons: he was a tremendous resource to me while I started my own firm, his writing is outstanding and entertaining, and he’s a part of a great team trying to move my industry in the right direction. If all you know about Josh are the posts I’ve shared, take the time to watch this talk he gave at Google; you’ll see why he’s such an influence on my growth as an advisor and business owner, and you’ll probably learn a few things along the way.

Justin Siebers at Newfound Research: Failing Slow, Failing Fast, And Failing Very Fast “A robust risk management strategy should seek to manage the risk of both slow failure and fast failure.  This means not simply seeking to minimize risk, but rather calibrating it to both the objective and the market environment.”

Mr. Money Mustache: Money and Confidence Are Interchangeable “Most people work too much on the money and use it to compensate for a lack of confidence. To get to the next stage in life, you will need to stop doing that.”

Morgan Housel: An Art Leveraging A Science “The first is that no investment strategy will work in the long run unless you can convince your investors/clients/employees to stick around when it inevitably doesn’t work in the short run. This is an iron rule of investing that applies to every investment style.”

A Wealth Of Common Sense: Stocks Are More Similar To Bonds Than You Think “This may not always be the case, as stocks and bonds could fall together in the future because of rising rates. But it’s more likely that higher inflation will be the culprit that would make it painful for both stocks and bonds at the same time.”

Gary Shteyngart via The New Yorker: A Sidelined Wall Street Bets On Bitcoin “Once worth north of two billion dollars, Novogratz had been reduced to the ranks of mere centimillionaires. But 2017 was proving to be pivotal for him and a motley band of other sidelined investors seeking redemption—think the Winklevoss twins—as they tethered themselves to the year’s most befuddling financial event: the rise of cryptocurrency.”

David Perell: Bet On Humanity “Algorithms excel at repetitive, data-driven tasks. But they lack the human touch that no AI can replicate. Customers — humans — crave connection.When in doubt, bet on humanity.” 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Disclaimer: Nothing on this blog should be considered advice, or recommendations. If you have questions pertaining to your individual situation you should consult your financial advisor. For all of the disclaimers, please see my disclaimer page.